Case Study: Boticca Pinterest Page Drives More Sales Than Facebook

A case study by online boutique Boticca.com showed that Pinterest users buy and spend more than their Facebook counterparts and brings more new visitors, but their level of engagement is lower in comparison.

According to The Business of Fashion, after analysing data from April, the study showed that 10 per cent of all transactions came from users who arrived at the site via Pinterest, compared to 7 per cent for Facebook. Perhaps the more interesting statistic is that 86 per cent of users who came via Pinterest were visiting Boticca for the first time, compared to 57 per cent of traffic from Facebook. The study also found that Pinterest users spend on average $180, more than double what Facebook users spend on average ($85)

On the flip side, those users on Pinterest aren't as engaged as Facebook users spending 65 per cent less time on the site in comparison and 70 per cent less time than the site's average. They also visit 42 per cent fewer pages than their Facebook counterparts and 52 per cent fewer pages than the site's average. Perhaps the most glaring problem is that it affected conversion rates: Pinterest conversion rate being 51 per cent lower than Facebook and 73 per cent lower when compared to the site's average number.

Pinterest Vs Facebook

So what can you take from this report. Firstly, Pinterest's layout is a powerful tool, its visuals and crisp style allows you to discover new content and uncover items and products that you wouldn't have found through normal means. Also images are more striking and suits itself perfectly when showcasing products such as clothing and gadgets.

However, the engagement level is lower than what you'd find on Facebook. This is probably because users would access the site through the repins of friends and followers. Even if the link came from the brand's own Pinterest page, the original source would get lost as its shared across the site, therefore there's no real loyalty attributed to the site. This is in contrast to Facebook whose users are normally fans of a brand, so there is a certain amount of loyalty attributed to them as your posts will appear in their news feed.

So to summarise, Pinterest is fantastic for getting new consumers onto your site in the short term, but will need to find ways to keep them there.